


Sands of Time

by JustYouBenSolo



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens 2015, Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi 2017, Star Wars Episode XI: The Last Skywalker 2019, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Ben Solo Doesn't Turn to the Dark Side, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Alternate Universe - Time Travel, F/M, Fix-It, Force Bond (Star Wars), Force Dyad (Star Wars), Force Sensitivity, Force suppression, Force-Sensitive Rey, Good Boy Sweater, Jedi Ben Solo, Kylo Ren Redemption, May the Force Be With You, Pre-Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Redeemed Ben Solo, Rey (Star Wars) is Nobody, Rey Palpatine, Rey Solo, Reylo - Freeform, The Force, The Force Ships It, Time Travel, Time Travel Fix-It, Virgin Ben Solo, Virgin Rey (Star Wars), Young Rey
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-01
Updated: 2020-06-01
Packaged: 2021-03-03 05:22:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,545
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24309676
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JustYouBenSolo/pseuds/JustYouBenSolo
Summary: Rey finds Ben in the dunes of the sandy desert of Jakku. She takes him back to the toppled AT-AT where she has made herself a home and nurses him back to life. The last thing Ben remembers was dying in the arms of the woman he loves. He wakes up thrown off balance to find he’s traveled back in time.
Relationships: Kylo Ren/Rey, Rey/Ben Solo, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 25
Kudos: 200
Collections: One Shots to the Solo House





	Sands of Time

**Author's Note:**

> I'm so excited to post this since it's my first canon divergence! I hope you enjoy it.
> 
> As always, many you's to my beta LadyofReylo!

It’s another hot day on Jakku. The sun is burning up in the atmosphere and hits the desert planet like a heatwave. The sweat is dripping down Rey’s skin and she uses the back of her hand to wipe it off her forehead. She heads for her land speeder and attaches her staff to it while making sure her bag with various working parts is secured before she drives through the dunes. Another day has passed with jumping through the junk fields of starship graveyards that are littered with loots and military technology.

It’s not ideal—scavenging—but it’s the only way she’s survived for so long. It doesn’t matter anyway. Her family will come back for her. She knows it.

At some point, something catches her attention in the distance. She _feels_ it first—the presence—before she spots what she’s looking for. Rey squints her eyes to get a better look while driving closer. She stops the land speeder not far away and parks it. Her feet sink in the rolling sand as she steps into it. Rey grabs her staff and starts walking, warily holding the staff in front of her to use for protection—just in case.

It’s a young man dressed in an attire of all-black. His dark hair is tousled from the sand and his face is bruised from what looks to be a previous fight. Rey uses the staff to gently poke him in the ribs—no reaction. He must have passed out in the dunes. Rey rubs her nose while thinking of what to do. She can’t leave him here. He’ll never make it on his own. If he won’t die of dehydration first, the Tusken Raiders—also known as the Sand People—will take him to their camp and later kill him.

Rey decides to take him with her but the deed is easier said than done. He’s heavy. She drags him through the dunes, his feet leaving a trace in the sand of where they’ve been. With much struggle, she manages to get him on the land speeder and she drives the rest of the way back to her village. She stops in front of the toppled AT-AT that she’s made herself a home of. After parking the land speeder, she drags him inside to shelter him from the hot sun.

Rey walks back outside to retrieve her bag and staff but stops. She _was_ headed to Ungar Plutt’s portion exchange stand to get today’s supply of food and water. Rey bites her bottom lip and contemplates what to do. She doesn’t know when he’ll wake up or if she can make it back in time before he does. Her rumbling stomach reminds her that she hasn’t eaten yet and that she better hurry up. Rey immediately starts the land speeder and heads to Niima Outpost marketplace. She almost groans when she sees how long the line is today.

Rey stops the land speeder and parks it. Sand scatters everywhere and she brushes some of it off her clothes. She takes her bag that is full of various working parts and her staff before she heads for Ungar Plutt’s portion exchange stand. The waiting is long but she hopes to make it back in time before her guest wakes up. When it’s finally her turn, she empties her bag on Ungar Plutt’s desk. He looks through the pile of working parts and takes some parts up to study them. Rey waits patiently for him to say his price though she already knows what the mechanical parts are worth.

“One-half portion.”

Rey stands baffled not believing his words. He’s trying to cheat her.

“Yesterday they were worth two portions.”

“And today I say they’re worth one-half portion. Take it or leave it,” he sneers. Rey huffs but she takes the portion anyway, accepting the trade.

The young man still hasn’t woken up when she gets back. Rey quickly eats a quarter portion and saves the rest for him, thinking he must be hungry when he wakes up. She brings him a worn-out blanket and folds it nicely before she places it carefully under his head. Water is a spared source on Jakku and has to be transported to the desert planet but Rey still uses some of her spared water to clean his dirty face, using a damp cloth to dab his wounds.

Rey lets her eyes study his face properly while cleaning him up. He’s got big ears hidden behind his disheveled dark hair, a distinct nose, and a constellation of beauty marks on his skin. A scar runs across his face and down his neck, disappearing under the black sweater. She traces the mark gently with her pointer finger. Despite all his imperfection, she still finds herself attracted to him—this handsome man in front of her. She wonders what has happened to him that made him end up here. Maybe he knows her parents?

Her fingers trace his black sweater and toys with a hole that’s ripped in the place where his heart is. A strange-looking metal hilt is attached to his belt. Rey has read about this weapon before and recognizes it as a lightsaber—an ancient weapon only used by the Force sensitives. She detaches it from his belt and examines it in her hands, wanting to take a good look at the kyber crystal inside. She pushes on a small button and a blue plasma blade ignites from the metal hilt, crackling and snarling softly. Rey shuts it off again and places it on the ground, purposely so it’s out of reach.

Rey goes back to cleaning his wounds. He stirs in his sleep and Rey retrieves her hand. With interested eyes, she stares innocently at him and watches as he opens his amber eyes. He blinks for a moment as if he’s dazed, then he stares at her, amazed. Rey stares back, intrigued.

“Rey.”

His voice is deep and low, somewhat familiar and inviting. Even though she’s never seen this man before, she still feels like she has. For as long as Rey can remember, she’s yearned for somewhere to belong—someone to be her family—and with his calming presence by her side, she feels like she has found her home.

Ben hardly believes his own eyes. He blinks slowly, thinking the heat has gotten to his head. He’s dreaming. It’s a mirage. _She_ isn’t here. The last thing he remembers was dying in the arms of the woman he loves after saving her life.

She looks younger than he remembers her—a red flag. Ben finally lets his eyes take in his surroundings, finding himself in what looks to be an old AT-AT. The sand on his clothes is not to be mistaken and with Rey in front of him, it only confirms his theory. He’s on Jakku.

“How do you know my name?”

Rey leans away from Ben, wary, hand reaching behind her to grab the staff. Ben feels his heart sink, rejected, and puzzled, eyes following where her hand is going as if she’s afraid of him. She doesn’t know who he is. Ben’s mind is racing a thousand miles an hour as he tries to make sense of it all. He died on Exegol and wakes up on Jakku as if nothing has happened. His eyes trail Rey’s leery expression, thinking hard to connect the dots, one thought in mind.

It’s not possible. Ben has heard stories but he never believed them. He doesn’t know how but he’s still somehow managed to do it. He’s traveled back in time.

“You don’t remember me…” Ben’s voice falters as his eyes start to fall in sorrow—“because we haven’t met yet.”

Rey grabs her staff and points it at Ben, standing to her feet. “Who are you?”

A lot of things occur to Ben while Rey looks at him cautiously. His parents are still alive and he’s been given a second chance to reconnect with them. He hasn’t killed Snoke and no one knows he is a clone created by Palpatine. Rey isn’t aware of the truth of her family or that she’s Force sensitive; and most importantly—she hasn’t kissed him yet.

Ben stands to his feet, making Rey tighten her grip on the staff. He steps closer to her, slowly reaching out for the staff. She reacts immediately but he’s faster and manages to rip the staff from her tight grip, throwing it to the ground behind him. Rey starts backing away from him. Ben instantly grabs her wrist and pulls her flush against his chest. She gasps, her eyes widening by the awoken bond between them and for the first time in a long time, Rey feels _complete_. Invisible energy bends and sways around her and between them, pulling her towards the man in front of her like a transparent thread. Should she be scared?

“Don’t be scared. I feel it too.”

Ben places a gentle hand on Rey’s cheek and he looks at her with such love and devotion that it’s making her convinced she’s met him before. There are soft lips on her lips in the next second and Rey finds herself pulling Ben closer, fisting his black sweater. _Ben_.

“Ben.”


End file.
